You have a need for scalability, to only pay for what is needed, when you need it

Or:

You can’t justify the investment on the technology/sourcing tools you need to find the best candidates

Internal recruiters/HR are overloaded & hiring managers are frustrated and under pressure

The cost of contingency fees (usually 20%+) warrants looking at other options

What is RPO?

To put it simply, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a form of Business Process Outsourcing, in which a company offloads all, or part, of its recruiting functions to an outside service provider. Examples include an organization that finds its HR department short-staffed and needs assistance in a particular part of the hiring process, or perhaps finds itself in a growth spurt and must quickly ramp up with a certain number of employees quickly (i.e. a team of developers). An outside firm can be brought in on a per-need basis to supplement the internal business unit.

Do you know the answers to these 10 questions?

What is your average cost per hire over the past year?

How much are you currently spending on candidate sourcing (i.e. job-board memberships, job fairs, employer branding, etc.)?

What is your average rate of vacancy, per month, for open & budgeted positions?

What did vacancies cost you last quarter in sales or profit/productivity?

What are your most effective channels for producing solid candidates and effective hires?

What is your average time to fill a position?

How often are candidates withdrawing from the recruiting process after being interviewed

What is your average turnover in the first 90 days of employment?

Have you calculated the cost of recent mis-hires?

What are the top three reasons why employees leave your company?

Adding an RPO service provider to your team can be an effective way of maximizing your hiring budget. Knowing the answers to these questions will go a long way toward identifying potential weak spots, so that a solid partner can help you acquire, retain and promote an A-player staff.

In this economy, smart managers understand that great talent is available to them – if they know where to look (and how to attract it). Here are a few tips to help your company gain an edge over the competition:

1) Make Sourcing a Process, Not an Event

Knowing where the Rock Stars are starts right now, before you need them – not after you’ve exhausted all of the job board candidates and are pushed up against a tight deadline. You need to have processes in place that give you a consistent pipeline to great talent.

2) Spend Time on the Job Description & Qualifications

These must be clear, concise, & thorough with input from the team members involved. Most companies fall way short here with weak boilerplate descriptions dictated solely by HR, or with minimal input from the hiring managers & team. This will be your recipe for success now and should be used as a measuring tool down the road.

3) Look Inside

Your company, your clients, your networks. Ask around and offer serious rewards for referrals – the ROI of hiring an A-player justifies sweetening the pot for those close to you that can help. This is a great opportunity to be creative & reward your team for helping your company become better.

4) Look Outside

Rock Stars openly share their knowledge and are easy to spot. CheckLinkedInprofiles, Twitter, blogs and websites to see who is writing about what they do. Interact with networking groups and find the players that are offering innovative solutions to their colleagues. Check with your trusted recruiters, as they should be able to put you in contact with these Rock Stars ASAP.

5) Create a Target List

Chances are you know which companies have trained the specific skill-sets you are looking for, whether they are in your industry, or even a direct competitor. Make a list of these companies and then tap your network for connections to get you to the right people. If the search is confidential, have your recruiter do it for you.

6)Reference Checks

Make all candidates aware early on that references will be checked and have them provided up front. Rock Stars have great references on-hand and are happy to share them. Emphasis on this step alone will weed out many of the weaker candidates that waste valuable time.

7) A Clearly-Defined Hiring Process

Let the candidates know up front what’s in store for them. Rock Stars entertain multiple opportunities and nothing turns them away faster than a disjointed, drawn-out process. I’ve seen more companies lose out on great candidates because of poor hiring processes than anything else.

The fact is, most companies spend very little time and effort up front and end up interviewing what they believe to be the “best of what’s available.” To gain a serious advantage, make consistently hiring Rock Star a top-priority and hold the people involved responsible. Mis-hires are extremely expensive so do the work up-front and you’ll soon reap the rewards of a Rock Star team.

*Extra Info: Mike Michalowicz has a great post on his website about the new rules of hiring in this economy.

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“Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is the one thing above all others; the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.”